Facebook imageChristopher Clavell, now of Tompkinsville, had long been a suspect in Queens case.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- For the past 11 years, Christopher (Noel) Clavell went to work each day as a correction officer for the city, as police detectives pursued their investigation into the murder of his former girlfriend in Queens.

Clavell had been identified as a possible suspect early on but was never charged.

Until now.

Yesterday, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced the indictment of Clavell, 46, of Tompkinsville, on charges of second-degree murder — it’s alleged that he shot Barbara Perez, 32, eight times in the head and once in the chest in a Queens gym on Aug. 11, 2000.

Prosecutors and police didn’t provide details on how the case broke, although the Daily News, citing an unnamed source, reported that investigators learned of statements the accused made implicating himself in the slaying.

Clavell, a 20-year veteran of the city Correction Department, was arrested Monday at his job in the prison ward of the Bellevue Medical Center in Manhattan.

Clavell and Ms. Perez had been embroiled in a custody battle over their then-2-year-old son, according to contemporary press accounts. He had surrendered himself for questioning the day of the slaying but had never been charged.

Ms. Perez was an assistant manager at The Power Factory, a gym located at 71-13 60th Lane in Ridgewood, Queens, prosecutors said. She was responsible for opening the gym at 6 a.m., prosecutors said.

On the morning of the slaying, about 7:15, a gym member found her dead on the floor of the rear of the building, prosecutors said.

At the time, Clavell lived in Ridgewood, about a block from the gym, public records show. He now lives on Clark Lane in Tompkinsville.

Michael Skelly, a spokesman for the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, said the union backs Clavell.

"The union’s response is that we firmly maintain his innocence. We believe at the end of the day he will be fully exonerated of the charges and accordingly have provided him with the best possible legal representation to ensure his rights are protected," Skelly said.

Clavell is represented by Manhattan attorney Peter C. Troxler.

Clavell was ordered held without bail until his next court date on June 2. According to Skelly, he has been placed in protective custody to separate him from the jail system’s general population.

Payroll records show Clavell had an annual salary of $73,546 in 2009. He has been suspended without pay, said Correction spokesman Stephen Morello.

Clavell faces 25 years to life in prison if he is convicted.

The case was investigated by Detective Denis Broderick of the New York Police Department’s Queens Homicide Squad under the supervision of Lt. John Purdoch.